Chair Jochen Heisenberg embodies the spirit of the Academy Physics Department. A descendant of the great 20th-century German physicist whose work pioneered the way for the atomic bomb, he reminds cadets that science has both military and peaceful applications. Heisenberg encourages physics students to explore science and its ramifications in Federation society.

PHYS 101. Introduction to Physics

A survey of classical and modern physics. Designed to enable students to appreciate the role of physics in today's society and technology. Emphasis on fundamental laws of nature on which all science is based: mechanics, heat, sound, electromagnetism, quantum interactions, and subspace strata.

PHYS 208. Photonics

Study of the nature and structure of light. Geometrical optics, electromagnetic theory of light, wave versus particle structures, phased and coherent light emissions, polarization, related phenomena, and nonlinear optics. Students study holographic structures and their relationship to the nature of light.

PHYS 310. Astrophysics

Review of the stars, Milky Way galaxy, external galaxies, and the expansion of the universe. Other topics include radio galaxies, quasistellar objects, cosmic black-body radiation, X-rays and gamma rays, dark matter, cosmic strings, and quantum filaments. Discussion of Newtonian, relativistic, and sub-space cosmological models, steady-state/big-bang theories, and matter-antimatter models. Students examine the interconnectivity of astrophysical bodies in the Academy stellar cartography lab.

PHYS 318. Nuclear Physics

Nuclear phenomenology, reactions, models, radiation, interaction of radiation with matter; accelerators; properties and interactions of elementary particles; symmetries and symmetry breaking; reactors, both fission and fusion. Students study working models of nuclear reactions is simulation.

PHYS 454. Elementary Temporal Mechanics

A survey of modern theories in temporal mechanics: linear and nonlinear models of space-time; tachyon particles; time and antitime; causality and temporal loops, paradox, and alternate timelines; quantum structure of space-time. Students study Starfleet missions involving time travel, their interactions and their results, and prepare a term paper describing reasons to avoid tampering with the time stream.